"Waste" Master and Disciple

Outer Court.

Chen Yan lay in the bath barrel with his eyes gently closed. Emerald droplets fell from the fingertips resting over the rim.

Body Tempering Fluid seeped in through his pores, penetrating deep into his bones.

This was Chen Yan's second medicinal bath.

Although Chen Yan had now reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, the foundation he had built during Body Tempering had been shaky. He had never taken a medicinal bath like this before.

Chen Yan could clearly feel his breathing growing deeper and steadier. The explosive power and endurance in his body had also improved significantly.

Even his meridians had become more open thanks to his strengthened physique.

"An Empty Mountain Sect disciple, huh..."

Chen Yan suddenly opened his eyes and murmured to himself. Then he smiled and shook his head.

Before Chen Yan entered Reincarnation, becoming an Inner Sect Disciple of the Empty Mountain Sect had indeed been his dream.

But that was no longer the case.

Chen Yan knew his own limits. Even with access to the Inner Sect's resources, he might not break through to the Qi Sea Realm in his lifetime.

More importantly, if the Reincarnation Record Point didn't update, then everything he had now would be as fleeting as a passing cloud.

In truth, Chen Yan didn't know what he wanted anymore.

Once, all he had wanted was to save Cheng Ziying. But by now, the two of them had drifted far apart.

The calamity at the Outer Court was still two years away.

That calamity was most likely connected to Chu Xiyao, the head of Qingchan Peak. Chen Yan still remembered the look in her eyes back then—full of guilt and self-reproach.

Calamity Cause.

Ever since Chen Yan returned from Kongyuan Mountain, that phrase had lingered in his mind.

Qingchan Peak, Fu Qian, Calamity Cause, Chu Xiyao, the calamity...

Chen Yan tried to piece them together, but he still couldn't make head or tail of it.

The information he had gathered so far was too fragmentary.

So Chen Yan rose from the bath barrel and rinsed the grime from his body with clean water. Then he dried himself and put on a fresh Outer Court Disciple robe.

He felt refreshed from head to toe.

Just as Chen Yan was thinking of taking a short nap while he had some free time, a knock suddenly sounded at the door of his quarters.

Who could it be?

Chen Yan had always kept to himself, so when someone knocked on his door, he couldn't help feeling puzzled.

He walked over and stopped before the door, then pulled it open.

Standing outside was a figure Chen Yan had once known better than anyone, but who now seemed a little unfamiliar—

Cheng Ziying.

At seventeen, Cheng Ziying had grown into a graceful young woman. Her pretty face still held a hint of childishness, but there was no doubt she was all grown up.

Unlike the playful, clingy junior sister in Chen Yan's memories, Cheng Ziying now had a touch of indifference and distance in her eyes.

"..."

Chen Yan didn't know what to say. He simply fell silent.

The moment Cheng Ziying's gaze met Chen Yan's, she quickly looked away.

Chen Yan had heard about Cheng Ziying's current cultivation level. Though she was only seventeen, she had already reached the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm.

That rate of cultivation would make her an above-average talent even in the Inner Sect.

But in their past cycles, Cheng Ziying hadn't advanced from the Body Tempering Realm to the Qi Condensation Realm until she was nineteen.

This made Chen Yan wonder if he had held Cheng Ziying back in the past.

At her current rate, it wasn't impossible for her to break through to the Martial Spring Realm before she turned nineteen.

If Cheng Ziying broke through to the Martial Spring Realm, she would earn her ticket into the Inner Sect as an Inner Sect Disciple.

Perhaps that would help her escape the calamity that had befallen the Outer Court when she was nineteen.

So, was I the reason Ziying died?

Chen Yan couldn't help smiling bitterly to himself.

"Senior Brother Chen."

The familiar words slipped slowly from Cheng Ziying's cherry-red lips.

"Elder Lin is waiting for you at Wenyuan Hall."

"Got it, Zi—"

"Then I'll take my leave."

Before Chen Yan could call her by name, the seventeen-year-old girl turned and walked away.

Chen Yan wanted to call after her, but in the end, he gave up.

Lin Qifeng was looking for him?

The last time Chen Yan had seen his cheap master was just after returning from Kongyuan Mountain, when he'd gone to return the token.

A week had passed since then. Chen Yan had thought this Personal Disciple of the Sect Master had completely forgotten about using him as a messenger.

But now that he was looking for Chen Yan, he probably had something else he wanted him to pass along.

Chen Yan left his quarters and started toward Wenyuan Hall.

When he reached the hall entrance, the doors slowly swung open on their own.

"You're here?"

The middle-aged man in a crane cloak sat behind a rosewood table, preparing tea.

"Your disciple Chen Yan greets you, Master."

Chen Yan cupped his hands.

"Cut the pointless formalities!"

Lin Qifeng grumbled impatiently.

"Finding you was a real pain. With so many people in the Outer Court, how come hardly anyone knows you?"

"Perhaps it's because I'm not good with words and rarely socialize with my fellow disciples."

Chen Yan gave him a perfunctory answer.

"Spare me the nonsense. Finding a disciple in the Outer Court who knew you was harder than fishing a needle out of the sea!"

Lin Qifeng glared, stroking his beard.

It seemed that finding someone in the Outer Court to pass on a message to Chen Yan had taken him quite a bit of effort.

In the end, he had found Cheng Ziying, who had already cut ties with Chen Yan.

"That girl you know has decent talent. She's already entered the Qi Condensation Realm at such a young age."

Lin Qifeng paused, then continued:

"Unlike you and me, the two of us are both wastes."

"Master, you're joking. I'm afraid I'm the only waste here."

Chen Yan cupped his hands.

"How old do you think I was when I entered the Qi Condensation Realm from the Body Tempering Realm?"

"...Sixteen?"

"I was thirty-six."

Chen Yan was slightly taken aback.

In his first life, Chen Yan hadn't reached the Qi Condensation Realm until he was forty-one.

Yet Lin Qifeng, as the Sect Master's Personal Disciple, had had ample cultivation resources at his disposal—and he'd only reached that realm five years earlier?

Chen Yan's first thought was that Lin Qifeng was lying.

But if it was true, then Lin Qifeng was indeed a waste, just as he'd said.

Then how had Lin Qifeng become a Qi Sea Realm cultivator?

And just how old was he now?

The only thing Chen Yan could infer was that Lin Qifeng was younger than Fu Qian, the Martial Suppression Elder of Qingchan Peak, and the white-haired old man from Kongyuan Mountain.

"What, can't believe it?"

Seeing Chen Yan standing there in a daze, Lin Qifeng said:

"Are you wondering how someone with such poor talent as your master could become the Sect Master's Personal Disciple?"